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Then said many, "The Long Serpent is indeed a wonderfully large
and beautiful vessel, and it shows a great mind to have built
such a ship."

Earl Eirik said so loud that several persons heard him, "If King
Olaf had no ether vessels but only that one, King Svein would
never take it from him with the Danish force alone."

Thereafter all the people rushed on board their ships, took down
the tents, and in all haste made ready for battle.

While the chiefs were speaking among themselves as above related,
they saw three very large ships coming sailing along, and at last
after them a fourth, and that was the Long Serpent. Of the large
ships which had gone before, and which they had taken for the
Long Serpent, the first was the Crane; the one after that was the
Short Serpent; and when they really, saw the Long Serpent, all
knew, and nobody had a word to say against it, that it must be
Olaf Trygvason who was sailing in such a vessel; and they went to
their ships to arm for the fight.

An agreement had been concluded among the chiefs, King Svein,
King Olaf the Swede, and Earl Eirik, that they should divide
Norway among them in three parts, in case they succeeded against
Olaf Trygvason; but that he of the chiefs who should first board
the Serpent should have her, and all the booty found in her, and
each should have the ships he cleared for himself. Earl Eirik
had a large ship of war which he used upon his viking
expeditions; and there was an iron beard or comb above on both
sides of the stem, and below it a thick iron plate as broad as
the combs, which went down quite to the gunnel.

112. OF KING OLAF'S PEOPLE.

When Earl Sigvalde with his vessels rowed in under the island,
Thorkel Dydril of the Crane, and the other ship commanders who
sailed with him, saw that he turned his ships towards the isle,
and thereupon let fall the sails, and rowed after him, calling
out, and asking why he sailed that way. The Earl answered, that
he was waiting for king Olaf, as he feared there were enemies in
the water. They lay upon their oars until Thorkel Nefia came up
with the Short Serpent and the three ships which followed him.
When they told them the same they too struck sail, and let the
ships drive, waiting for king Olaf. But when the king sailed in
towards the isle, the whole enemies' fleet came rowing within
them out to the Sound. When they saw this they begged the king
to hold on his way, and not risk battle with so great a force.
The king replied, high on the quarter-deck where he stood,
"Strike the sails; never shall men of mine think of flight. I
never fled from battle. Let God dispose of my life, but flight I
shall never take." It was done as the king commanded. Halfred
tells of it thus: --

"And far and wide the saying bold
Of the brave warrior shall be told.
The king, in many a fray well tried,
To his brave champions round him cried,
`My men shall never learn from me
From the dark weapon-cloud to flee.'
Nor were the brave words spoken then
Forgotten by his faithful men."

113. OLAF'S SHIPS PREPARED FOR BATTLE.

King Olaf ordered the war-horns to sound for all his ships to
close up to each other. The king's ship lay in the middle of the
line, and on one side lay the Little Serpent, and on the other
the Crane; and as they made fast the stems together (1), the Long
Serpent's stem and the short Serpent's were made fast together;
but when the king saw it he called out to his men, and ordered
them to lay the larger ship more in advance, so that its stern
should not lie so far behind in the fleet.

Then says Ulf the Red, "If the Long Serpent is to lie as much
more ahead of the other ships as she is longer than them, we
shall have hard work of it here on the forecastle."

The king replies, "I did not think I had a forecastle man afraid
as well as red."

Says Ulf, "Defend thou the quarterdeck as I shall the
forecastle."

The king had a bow in his hands, and laid an arrow on the string,
and aimed at Ulf.

Ulf said, "Shoot another way, king, where it is more needful: my
work is thy gain."

ENDNOTES:
(1) The mode of fighting in sea battles appears, from this and
many other descriptions, to have been for each party to bind
together the stems and sterns of their own ships, forming
them thus into a compact body as soon aa the fleets came
within fighting distance, or within spears' throw. They
appear to have fought principally from the forecastles; and
to have used grappling irons for dragging a vessel out of
the line, or within boarding distance. -- L.

114. OF KING OLAF.

King Olaf stood on the Serpent's quarterdeck, high over the
others. He had a gilt shield, and a helmet inlaid with gold;
over his armour he had a short red coat, and was easy to be
distinguished from other men. When King Olaf saw that the
scattered forces of the enemy gathered themselves together under
the banners of their ships, he asked, "Who is the chief of the
force right opposite to us?"

He was answered, that it was King Svein with the Danish army.

The king replies, "We are not afraid of these soft Danes, for
there is no bravery in them; but who are the troops on the right
of the Danes?"

He was answered, that it was King Olaf with the Swedish forces.

"Better it were," says King Olaf, "for these Swedes to be sitting
at home killing their sacrifices, than to be venturing under our
weapons from the Long Serpent. But who owns the large ships on
the larboard side of the Danes?"

"That is Earl Eirik Hakonson," say they.

The king replies, "He, methinks, has good reason for meeting us;
and we may expect the sharpest conflict with these men, for they
are Norsemen like ourselves."

115. THE BATTLE BEGINS.

The kings now laid out their oars, and prepared to attack (A.D.
1000). King Svein laid his ship against the Long Serpent.
Outside of him Olaf the Swede laid himself, and set his ship's
stern against the outermost ship of King Olaf's line; and on the
other side lay Earl Eirik. Then a hard combat began. Earl
Sigvalde held back with the oars on his ships, and did not join
the fray. So says Skule Thorsteinson, who at that time was with
Earl Eirik: --

"I followed Sigvalde in my youth,
And gallant Eirik, and in truth
The' now I am grown stiff and old,
In the spear-song I once was bold.
Where arrows whistled on the shore
Of Svold fjord my shield I bore,
And stood amidst the loudest clash
When swords on shields made fearful crash."

And Halfred also sings thus: --

"In truth I think the gallant king,
Midst such a foemen's gathering,
Would be the better of some score
Of his tight Throndhjem lads, or more;
For many a chief has run away,
And left our brave king in the fray,
Two great kings' power to withstand,
And one great earl's, with his small band,
The king who dares such mighty deed
A hero for his skald would need."

116. FLIGHT OF SVEIN AND OLAF THE SWEDE.

This battle was one of the severest told of, and many were the
people slain. The forecastle men of the Long Serpent, the Little
Serpent, and the Crane, threw grapplings and stem chains into
King Svein's ship, and used their weapons well against the people
standing below them, for they cleared the decks of all the ships
they could lay fast hold of; and King Svein, and all the men who
escaped, fled to other vessels, and laid themselves out of
bow-shot. It went with this force just as King Olaf Trygvason
had foreseen. Then King Olaf the Swede laid himself in their
place; but when he came near the great ships it went with him as
with them, for he lost many men and some ships, and was obliged
to get away. But Earl Eirik laid his ship side by side with the
outermost of King Olaf's ships, thinned it of men, cut the
cables, and let it drive. Then he laid alongside of the next,
and fought until he had cleared it of men also. Now all the
people who were in the smaller ships began to run into the
larger, and the earl cut them loose as fast as he cleared them of
men. The Danes and Swedes laid themselves now out of shooting
distance all around Olaf's ship; but Earl Eirik lay always close
alongside of the ships, and used hid swords and battle-axes, and
as fast as people fell in his vessel others, Danes and Swedes,
came in their place. So says Haldor, the Unchristian: --

"Sharp was the clang of shield and sword,
And shrill the song of spears on board,
And whistling arrows thickly flew
Against the Serpent's gallant crew.
And still fresh foemen, it is said,
Earl Eirik to her long side led;
Whole armies of his Danes and Swedes,
Wielding on high their blue sword-blades."

Then the fight became most severe, and many people fell. But at
last it came to this, that all King Olaf Trygvason's ships were
cleared of men except the Long Serpent, on board of which all who
could still carry their arms were gathered. Then Earl Eirik lay
with his ship by the side of the Serpent, and the fight went on
with battle-axe and sword. So says Haldor: --

"Hard pressed on every side by foes,
The Serpent reels beneath the blows;
Crash go the shields around the bow!
Breast-plates and breasts pierced thro' and thro!
In the sword-storm the Holm beside,
The earl's ship lay alongside
The king's Long Serpent of the sea --
Fate gave the earl the victory."

117. OF EARL EIRIK.

Earl Eirik was in the forehold of his ship, where a cover of
shields (1) had been set up. In the fight, both hewing weapons,
sword, and axe, and the thrust of spears had been used; and all
that could be used as weapon for casting was cast. Some used
bows, some threw spears with the hand. So many weapons were cast
into the Serpent, and so thick flew spears and arrows, that the
shields could scarcely receive them, for on all sides the Serpent
was surrounded by war-ships. Then King Olaf's men became so mad
with rage, that they ran on board of the enemies ships, to get at
the people with stroke of sword and kill them; but many did not
lay themselves so near the Serpent, in order to escape the close
encounter with battle-axe or sword; and thus the most of Olaf's
men went overboard and sank under their weapons, thinking they
were fighting on plain ground. So says Halfred: --

"The daring lads shrink not from death; --
O'erboard they leap, and sink beneath
The Serpent's keel: all armed they leap,
And down they sink five fathoms deep.
The foe was daunted at the cheers;
The king, who still the Serpent steers,
In such a strait -- beset with foes --
Wanted but some more lads like those."

ENDNOTES:
(1) Both in land and sea fights the commanders appear to have
been protected from missile weapons, -- stones, arrows,
spears, -- by a shieldburg: that is, by a party of men
bearing shields surrounding them in such a way that the
shields were a parapet, covering those within the circle.
The Romans had a similar military arrangement of shields in
sieges -- the testudo. -- L.

118. OF EINAR TAMBARSKELVER.

Einar Tambarskelver, one of the sharpest of bowshooters, stood by
the mast, and shot with his bow. Einar shot an arrow at Earl
Eirik, which hit the tiller end just above the earl's head so
hard that it entered the wood up to the arrow-shaft. The earl
looked that way, and asked if they knew who had shot; and at the
same moment another arrow flew between his hand and his side, and
into the stuffing of the chief's stool, so that the barb stood
far out on the other side. Then said the earl to a man called
Fin, -- but some say he was of Fin (Laplander) race, and was a
superior archer, -- "Shoot that tall man by the mast." Fin shot;
and the arrow hit the middle of Einar's bow just at the moment
that Einar was drawing it, and the bow was split in two parts.

"What is that."cried King Olaf, "that broke with such a noise?"

"Norway, king, from thy hands," cried Einar.

"No! not quite so much as that," says the king; "take my bow,
and shoot," flinging the bow to him.

Einar took the bow, and drew it over the head of the arrow. "Too
weak, too weak," said he, "for the bow of a mighty king!" and,
throwing the bow aside, he took sword and shield, and fought
Valiantly.

119. OLAF GIVES HIS MEN SHARP SWORDS.

The king stood on the gangways of the Long Serpent. and shot the
greater part of the day; sometimes with the bow, sometimes with
the spear, and always throwing two spears at once. He looked
down over the ship's sides, and saw that his men struck briskly
with their swords, and yet wounded but seldom. Then he called
aloud, "Why do ye strike so gently that ye seldom cut?" One
among the people answered, "The swords are blunt and full of
notches." Then the king went down into the forehold, opened the
chest under the throne, and took out many sharp swords, which he
handed to his men; but as he stretched down his right hand with
them, some observed that blood was running down under his steel
glove, but no one knew where he was wounded.

120. THE SERPENT BOARDED.

Desperate was the defence in the Serpent, and there was the
heaviest destruction of men done by the forecastle crew, and
those of the forehold, for in both places the men were chosen
men, and the ship was highest, but in the middle of the ship the
people were thinned. Now when Earl Eirik saw there were but few
people remaining beside the ship's mast, he determined to board;
and he entered the Serpent with four others. Then came Hyrning,
the king's brother-in-law, and some others against him, and there
was the most severe combat; and at last the earl was forced to
leap back on board his own ship again, and some who had
accompanied him were killed, and others wounded. Thord
Kolbeinson alludes to this: --

"On Odin's deck, all wet with blood,
The helm-adorned hero stood;
And gallant Hyrning honour gained,
Clearing all round with sword deep stained.
The high mountain peaks shall fall,
Ere men forget this to recall."

Now the fight became hot indeed, and many men fell on board the
Serpent; and the men on board of her began to be thinned off, and
the defence to be weaker. The earl resolved to board the Serpent
again, and again he met with a warm reception. When the
forecastle men of the Serpent saw what he was doing, they went
aft and made a desperate fight; but so many men of the Serpent
had fallen, that the ship's sides were in many places quite bare
of defenders; and the earl's men poured in all around into the
vessel, and all the men who were still able to defend the ship
crowded aft to the king, and arrayed themselves for his defence.
So says Haldor the Unchristian: --

"Eirik cheers on his men, --
`On to the charge again!'
The gallant few
Of Olaf's crew
Must refuge take
On the quarter-deck.
Around the king
They stand in ring;
Their shields enclose
The king from foes,
And the few who still remain
Fight madly, but in vain.
Eirik cheers on his men --
`On to the charge again!'"

121. THE SERPENT'S DECKS CLEARED.

Kolbjorn the marshal, who had on clothes and arms like the kings,
and was a remarkably stout and handsome man, went up to king on
the quarter-deck. The battle was still going on fiercely even in
the forehold (1). But as many of the earl's men had now got into
the Serpent as could find room, and his ships lay all round her,
and few were the people left in the Serpent for defence against
so great a force; and in a short time most of the Serpent's men
fell, brave and stout though they were. King Olaf and Kolbjorn
the marshal both sprang overboard, each on his own side of the
ship; but the earl's men had laid out boats around the Serpent,
and killed those who leaped overboard. Now when the king had
sprung overboard, they tried to seize him with their hands, and
bring him to Earl Eirik; but King Olaf threw his shield over his
head, and sank beneath the waters. Kolbjorn held his shield
behind him to protect himself from the spears cast at him from
the ships which lay round the Serpent, and he fell so upon his
shield that it came under him, so that he could not sink so
quickly. He was thus taken and brought into a boat, and they
supposed he was the king. He was brought before the earl; and
when the earl saw it was Kolbjorn, and not the king, he gave him
his life. At the same moment all of King Olaf's men who were in
life sprang overboard from the Serpent; and Thorkel Nefia, the
king's brother, was the last of all the men who sprang overboard.
It is thus told concerning the king by Halfred: --

"The Serpent and the Crane
Lay wrecks upon the main.
On his sword he cast a glance, --
With it he saw no chance.
To his marshal, who of yore
Many a war-chance had come o'er,
He spoke a word -- then drew in breath,
And sprang to his deep-sea death."

ENDNOTES:
(1) From the occasional descriptions of vessels in this and
other battles, it may be inferred that even the Long
Serpent, described in the 95tb chapter as of 150 feet of
keel was only docked fore and aft; the thirty-four benches
for rowers occupying the open area in the middle, and
probably gangways running along the side for communicating
from the quarter-deck to the forcastle. -- L.

122. REPORT AMONG THE PEOPLE.

Earl Sigvalde. as before related, came from Vindland, in company
with King Olaf, with ten ships; but the eleventh ship was manned
with the men of Astrid, the king's daughter, the wife of Earl
Sigvalde. Now when King Olaf sprang overboard, the whole army
raised a shout of victory; and then Earl Sigvalde and his men put
their oars in the water and rowed towards the battle. Haldor the
Unchristian tells of it thus: --

"Then first the Vindland vessels came
Into the fight with little fame;
The fight still lingered on the wave,
Tho' hope was gone with Olaf brave.
War, like a full-fed ravenous beast,
Still oped her grim jaws for the feast.
The few who stood now quickly fled,
When the shout told -- `Olaf is dead!'"

But the Vindland cutter, in which Astrid's men were, rowed back
to Vindland; and the report went immediately abroad and was told
by many, that King Olaf had cast off his coat-of-mail under
water, and had swum, diving under the longships, until he came to
the Vindland cutter, and that Astrid's men had conveyed him to
Vindland: and many tales have been made since about the
adventures of Olaf the king. Halfred speaks thus about it: --

"Does Olaf live? or is he dead?
Has he the hungry ravens fed?
I scarcely know what I should say,
For many tell the tale each way.
This I can say, nor fear to lie,
That he was wounded grievously --
So wounded in this bloody strife,
He scarce could come away with life."

But however this may have been, King Olaf Trygvason never came
back again to his kingdom of Norway. Halfred Vandredaskald
speaks also thus about it:

"The witness who reports this thing
Of Trygvason, our gallant king,
Once served the king, and truth should tell,
For Olaf hated lies like hell.
If Olaf 'scaped from this sword-thing,
Worse fate, I fear, befel our king
Than people guess, or e'er can know,
For he was hemm'd in by the foe.
From the far east some news is rife
Of king sore wounded saving life;
His death, too sure, leaves me no care
For cobweb rumours in the air.
It never was the will of fate
That Olaf from such perilous strait
Should 'scape with life! this truth may grieve --
`What people wish they soon believe.'"

123. OF EARL EIRIK, THE SON OF HAKON.

By this victory Earl Eirik Hakonson became owner of the Long
Serpent, and made a great booty besides; and he steered the
Serpent from the battle. So says Haldor: --

"Olaf, with glittering helmet crowned,
Had steered the Serpent through the Sound;
And people dressed their boats, and cheered
As Olaf's fleet in splendour steered.
But the descendent of great Heming,
Whose race tells many a gallant sea-king,
His blue sword in red life-blood stained,
And bravely Olaf's long ship gained."

Svein, a son of Earl Hakon, and Earl Eirik's brother, was engaged
at this time to marry Holmfrid, a daughter of King Olaf the
Swedish king. Now when Svein the Danish king, Olaf the Swedish
king, and Earl Eirik divided the kingdom of Norway between them,
King Olaf got four districts in the Throndhjem country, and also
the districts of More and Raumsdal; and in the east part of the
land he got Ranrike, from the Gaut river to Svinasund. Olaf gave
these dominions into Earl Svein's hands, on the same conditions
as the sub kings or earls had held them formerly from the upper-
king of the country. Earl Eirik got four districts in the
Throndhjem country, and Halogaland, Naumudal, the Fjord
districts, Sogn, Hordaland, Rogaland, and North Agder, all the
way to the Naze. So says Thord Kolbeinson: --

"All chiefs within our land
On Eirik's side now stand:
Erling alone, I know
Remains Earl Eirik's foe.
All praise our generous earl, --
He gives, and is no churl:
All men are well content
Fate such a chief has sent.
From Veiga to Agder they,
Well pleased, the earl obey;
And all will by him stand,
To guard the Norsemen's land.
And now the news is spread
That mighty Svein is dead,
And luck is gone from those
Who were the Norsemen's foes."

The Danish king Svein retained Viken as he had held it before,
but he gave Raumarike and Hedemark to Earl Eirik. Svein Hakonson
got the title of earl from Olaf the Swedish king. Svein was one
of the handsomest men ever seen. The earls Eirik and Svein both
allowed themselves to be baptized, and took up the true faith;
but as long as they ruled in Norway they allowed every one to do
as he pleased in holding by his Christianity. But, on the other
hand, they held fast by the old laws, and all the old rights and
customs of the land, and were excellent men and good rulers.
Earl Eirik had most to say of the two brothers in all matters of
government.

SAGA OF OLAF HARALDSON. (1)

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Olaf Haraldson the Saint's Saga is the longest, the most
important, and the most finished of all the sagas in
"Heimskringla". The life of Olaf will be found treated more or
less freely in "Agrip", in "Historia Norvegiae", in "Thjodrek the
Monk", in the legendary saga, and in "Fagrskinna". Other old
Norse literature relating to this epoch:

Are's "Islendingabok", "Landnama", "Kristni Saga", "Biskupa-
sogur", "Njala", "Gunlaugs Saga", "Ormstungu", "Bjarnar Saga
Hitdaelakappa", "Hallfredar Thattr Vandraedaskalde", "Eyrbyggia",
"Viga Styrs Saga", "Laxdaela", "Fostbraedra", "Gretla",
"Liosvetninga", "Faereyinga", "Orkneyinga".

Olaf Haraldson was born 995, went as a viking at the age of
twelve, 1007; visited England, one summer and three winters,
1009-1012; in France two summers and one winter, 1012-1013;
spent the winter in Normandy, 1014; returned to Norway and was
recognized as King, April 3, 1015; fled from Norway the winter
of 1028-1029; fell at Stiklestad, July 29 (or August 31), 1030.

Skalds quoted in this saga are: -- Ottar Svarte, Sigvat Skald,
Thord Kolbeinson, Berse Torfason, Brynjolf, Arnor Jarlaskald,
Thord Siarekson, Harek, Thorarin Loftunga, Halvard Hareksblese,
Bjarne Gulbraskald, Jokul Bardson, Thormod Kolbrunarskald,
Gissur, Thorfin Mun, Hofgardaref.

ENDNOTES:
(1) King Olaf the Saint reigned from about the year 1015 to
1030. The death of King Olaf Trygvason was in the year
1000: and Earl Eirik held the government for the Danish and
Swedish kings about fifteen years. -- L.

1. OF SAINT OLAF'S BRINGING UP.

Olaf, Harald Grenske's son, was brought up by his stepfather
Sigurd Syr and his mother Asta. Hrane the Far-travelled lived in
the house of Asta, and fostered this Olaf Haraldson. Olaf came
early to manhood, was handsome in countenance, middle-sized in
growth, and was even when very young of good understanding and
ready speech. Sigurd his stepfather was a careful householder,
who kept his people closely to their work, and often went about
himself to inspect his corn-rigs and meadowland, the cattle, and
also the smith-work, or whatsoever his people had on hand to do.

2. OF OLAF AND KING SIGURD SYR.

It happened one day that King Sigurd wanted to ride from home,
but there was nobody about the house; so he told his stepson Olaf
to saddle his horse. Olaf went to the goats' pen, took out the
he-goat that was the largest, led him forth, and put the king's
saddle on him, and then went in and told King Sigurd he had
saddled his riding horse. Now when King Sigurd came out and saw
what Olaf had done, he said "It is easy to see that thou wilt
little regard my orders; and thy mother will think it right that
I order thee to do nothing that is against thy own inclination.
I see well enough that we are of different dispositions, and that
thou art far more proud than I am." Olaf answered little, but
went his way laughing.